All Rise...

Editor's Note

The Charge

Opening Statement

One of the best werewolf movies ever made from one of my favorite directors
ever makes its high-def debut. Thank you, Scream Factory.

Facts of the Case

After news anchor Karen White (Dee Wallace Stone, Runaway Daughters) is attacked by
serial murderer Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo, Stargate Atlantis), she is sent
by her therapist to recover at a private resort called "The Colony."
Arriving there with her husband Bill (Christopher Stone, Dee's real-life
husband), the pair encounters all kinds of strange patients. Before long, a
female patient seduces Bill, and Karen is noticing more and more strange
behavior. The Colony, it seems, is a haven for werewolves, and they're looking
to increase their numbers…

The Evidence

I love werewolf movies and I love Joe Dante, so I'm a pretty easy mark for
1981's The Howling, Dante's second solo outing as a director after the
low-budget Piranha. The movie expertly
blends comedy and horror (leaning more towards the horror), features stylish and
moody photography, groundbreaking makeup effects and a great cast of character
actors. Though it was made in the same period that Friday the 13th was about to
launch a thousand soulless, depressing imitators, The Howling remembers
that above all else, horror movies can be a lot of fun.

Though Piranha had set the template, The Howling is really the
first movie to define what a Joe Dante movie is. It's a film that functions both
as the thing and about the thing, meaning it works as a straightforward
horror movie and as a loving send-up of werewolf movie conventions. It features
many of his regular repertory company, including Kevin McCarthy, Dick Miller,
Belinda Balaski (never lovelier or more appealing) and even cameos from
Famous Monsters of Filmland creator Forrest J. Ackerman and producer
Roger Corman, Dante's former boss. The characters are named after famous
werewolf movie directors, and lots of sly werewolf jokes fill the corners of the
frame. These little in-jokes don't call attention to themselves or detract from
the movie—they're only there for savvy horror audiences or fans of Joe
Dante who pick up on them. Everyone else can just enjoy a terrific little
werewolf picture.

As much as The Howling works as a monster movie, it is rather
dated—not because of the clothing and the hairstyles, but because much of
the film's humor is couched in a kind of late '70s new age-y satire. The idea of
The Colony is both scary and funny, because it means there's a secret society of
werewolves (scary) but also suggests that many of them want to be part of a kind
of self-help support group. It's an amusing concept no matter what, but made
more sense in the context of the era in which it was released. Even the smiley
face stickers found all over the movie, then a popular counterculture symbol,
doesn't mean the same thing now as it did 30 years ago.

Then, of course, there are the makeup effects, which were revolutionary
until John Landis' An American Werewolf in
London came out just a few months later. Rick Baker, who created the
Oscar-winning transformation effects for American Werewolf, was
originally working on The Howling until Landis secured the financing for
his movie. Effects duties on The Howling then went to Baker's
protégé Rob Bottin, who was only 21 at the time. As Dante points out
on his commentary for the movie, there are problems with the movie's
transformation set piece—namely, that the movie literally stops cold for
an impressive two-minute effects demo before resuming the story, raising
questions as to why Karen stands there and watches the whole thing happen
instead of running away, which she clearly has time to do. Still, it's an
impressive sequence, made even more so for being the first of its kind.
Nowadays, the few werewolf movies we get feature CGI transformations, but I'll
take a practical one like this any day.

The Howling looks better than it ever has on Blu-ray. The 1080p HD
transfer gives the film greater clarity and color saturation than its ever
shown; the film is over 30 years old at this point and looks it at times, not
because there is visible damage or age but because it lacks the polish of more
recent movies. The photography has always been a bit on the soft and hazy side,
mostly because of Dante's dreamlike approach to the material, and that look is
faithfully recreated by the Blu-ray. Otherwise, the image has been cleaned up to
an impressive degree, making for one good-looking transfer. The 5.1 lossless
audio track does a solid job of mixing the dialogue with the scares, with good
ambient wolf noises and effective "jump" moments. It's not too flashy,
but it gets the job done.

Scream Factory's Blu-ray of The Howling is a must-have if only for
the fact that it combines all of the special features from past
releases—the 1995 Laserdisc and the 2003 special edition DVD—as well
as adds a few new features of its own. The '95 commentary track, featuring Dante
and stars Dee Wallace Stone, Christopher Stone (shortly before his death the
same year) and Robert Picardo, is intact and just as enjoyable as ever. Dante is
always energetic and full of great stories (like one about screenwriter John
Sayles secretly working on both this and Alligator at the same time), and the group
setting adds a lot of laid back, informal fun. It's the kind of commentary
that's worth returning to again and again. Scream Factory has included a second
commentary track with Gary Bradner, who wrote the original novel. His discussion
is drier and doesn't contain a ton of new information, but kudos to Scream
Factory for including a brand new commentary.

Also new to this edition is a collection of interviews with
behind-the-scenes personnel: editor Mark Goldblatt, writer Terence Winkless (who
receives screenwriting credit alongside Sayles) and executive producer Steven A.
Lane, who briefly talks through every entry in the long-running Howling
franchise but doesn't say much of value. All of these interviews are presented
in HD. Another featurette covers the locations. The Blu-ray also restores a
complete interview with stop motion animator Dave Allen, which first appeared on
the laserdisc but was almost entirely cut from the 2003 DVD release. It's a
fascinating bit of behind-the-scenes info; Allen did some stop-motion sequences
for the movie that were ultimately cut out, and he appears pretty unhappy about
it. The footage appears in the interview, and despite the fact that he's very
talented and undoubtedly worked very hard on the footage, Dante was right to cut
it.

All of the extras from the DVD have been carried over, too, meaning we get
the deleted scenes with optional commentary from Dante, a photo gallery, a
collection of trailers, a vintage "making-of" featurette and, best of
all, the terrific five-part documentary "Unleashing the Beast: The Making
of The Howling." It runs nearly an hour and includes contributions
from many of the key players in the production. It's great.

Closing Statement

I almost feel bad for The Howling. Had American Werewolf in
London not come out the very same year, its reputation as a genuine classic
monster movie would be undeniable. Instead, it's now remembered more as an
also-ran—the Deep Impact to American Werewolf's Pearl Harbor. If you've never seen in,
Scream Factory's Blu-ray is sure to make a fan out of you. If you've always been
a fan, the excellent transfer and collection of supplemental material will make
you appreciate it more than ever before. It's a win/win.